Thursday, November 19, 2015

Okay, about two weeks ago, in the resort where I live I saw a man walking that I had seen at the Memorial at the Kingdom Hall a year and a half ago. But before he was very athletic and healthy and now he was very ill looking using a walker. I decided I HAD to go see if there was anything I could do for him because I knew that he lived all by himself and may have been too sick to run errands. Anyway, I have been watching this last week to see if I saw him walking again. WELL, tonight as I was leaving my place I looked up the road and saw him walking ahead and decided I was going to catch up and chat. I mean, how hard does that sound, catching an ill guy using a walker??? Well, if you have ever walked Pearl with me you will know that it is much harder than it should be. Sooo....I take off trying to walk at a normal pace with Harvey keeping up just fine - Pearl on the other hand is trying to smell every blade of grass and rock along the way. Usually I don't care but this time I had a mission, plus I was kind of anxious because I didn't really know how I was going to start this conversation. Therefore, as I was walking down the road I was praying in whispers under my breath over and over, "Jehovah please grant me some wisdom about what to say in this situation....I don't know what to say, because this person is sick...I feel really unprepared but I know I have to say something...so please PLEASE help me think of something to break the ice and say something..." over and over - I am sure all of you have had those anxious moments. PLUS Pearl is frustrating me by walking so slow and locking her feet because she wants to smell stuff, that between my utterances to Jehovah, I am frequently breaking in by talking to her and saying, "hurry up, HURRY UP! What is is wrong with you??? Why do you have to be so slow today?? Don't be a little slug - MOVE IT, MOVE IT!! I just kept saying this to the poor little thing over and over (bad pup parent, I know). Anyway, suddenly the man stops and turns around and says, I am sooo sooo sorry but I can't go any faster. I apologize, this really is the best I can do. (With sad look on face). I looked so surprised and so did he, because I explained I was talking to Pearl the entire time. And he said he honestly thought I was talking to him. :-/ So the right words at the right time came to me. :-0 We ended up having a great discussion, talking about meeting at the Kingdom Hall before, and I was able to offer help. Not sure if this is the best introduction to try on people, but it was effective in the end. :-)

Today one of my students touched my heart. He has autism and prepared a presentation for the class using PowerPoint. It was all about him and his autism and how it affects his life. He is nine years old, and was so excited to prepare his presentation but then when it came moments before he was to stand in front of the class he started to shake and have second thoughts. I pulled him into the storage closet and showed him how to deep breath. He took 3 deep gulps to fill his lungs. At that moment I thought maybe it would just be too much, but then he lunged out the door to the front of the class, plugged his usb into the computer and started talking. It was incredible. When he was all finished he smiled widely and kept saying to me, "I am so proud of myself". He had tears in his eyes to have done this and could hardly wait to get home to tell his mom and dad. I am so sincerely grateful to have the opportunity to help students like him achieve their dreams.